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Skillshare, a New York based startup that runs an online marketplace for local classes, announced today that it's introducing 'Hybrid' courses - month-long programs where students learn by collaborating on a guided project rather than by absorbing material from a lecturer.

CEO Michael Karnjanaprakorn said the idea came through his experience teaching "Launch Your Startup Idea for Less than $5000" after debuting the company in April 2011. Originally taught in a lecture-based format, Karjanaprakorn found that by requiring students to present a deliverable at the end of class - in this case, an actual product - outcomes improved dramatically. Students in the later version of the course went on to create actual companies, including RentHackr, a website that displays the rents that tenants pay in New York apartment buildings, and Hashpix, a service that allows people to sell their Instagram photos. "After I changed the format, the success stories were amazing," Karnjanaprakorn said.

Students from around the world can enroll in Hybrid classes which are not taught in person, but through livestreamed office hours, in-person student collaboration and online feedback. Courses generally run for five weeks. The company is introducing 15 new Hybrid classes this morning, with offerings from Union Square Ventures partner Fred Wilson and former executives from Zappos and Airbnb.

Founded by Karnjanaprakorn and CTO Malcolm Ong in 2010, the 15-person company has raised $3.65 million in venture funding from Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital among others. Skillshare helps amateur teachers find classroom space, register students and collect payment for in-person courses, taking a 15% cut of student fees in the process. Karnjanaprakorn is a veteran of Hot Potato, an event-focused online chat service acquired by Facebook in 2010.

According to a blog post accompanying the announcement, the company currently has 5,000 registered teachers across the country and more students than the University of California college system. Courses generally cost $20-25. Skillshare's top teacher, Avi Flombaum, made over $25,000 teaching classes in June.

The company introduced The Classroom, an online space for students and instructors to share resources, collaborate and ask question in July.